Composite constructed floating submersible water supply pump

ABSTRACT

The disclosure describes the improvement of mobile floating submersible pump systems where such systems are used for rapid deployment water transfer. Such systems are deployed within industrial fire fighting, flood control operations (FIG.  7 ) and similar water transfer requirements. A floating submersible pump is designed to separate the power system (FIG.  7,  item  11 ), such as a diesel engine, from the pump body (FIG.  7,  item  16 ), which further enables the operator to deploy a pumping system where traditional ground based centrifugal pumps are unable to physically siphon the water. Floating submersible pump systems are cumbersome in nature, requiring heavy equipment and significant manpower to deploy them. The innovation disclosed uses advancements in structural fiber reinforced materials to drastically reduce the weight of such systems, which removes the need for heavy deployment equipment, with the added benefit of corrosion protection from saline environments through the use of chemically inert composites.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Municipal and emergency water requirements are frequently mismatchedwith improper sourcing equipment for rapid deployment and delivery ofhigh-volume water. For example, a typical firetruck is incapable ofdrafting (i.e. siphoning) water from an open water source (such as alake or pond) much more than 10 feet below its pump's center-line. Thisis a common problem of all pumps (most notably centrifugal) as waterbegins to vaporize within the pump intake under extended suction ranges,causing severe cavitation damage. This is governed by the Net PositiveSuction Head Principle; the difference between the pump suction headpressure and the pumping medium vapor pressure at a given operatingtemperature. Fixed pumping systems, such as that found within a buildingor refinery, use flooded intakes (often further pressurized by municipalwater mains) that alleviate this problem. Additionally, a fire truck mayhave access to a pressurized hydrant system provided by the municipalwater authority to supplement its emergency water needs. Unfortunately,adequate pressurized water infrastructure is unavailable in many remoteareas and limited access facilities found among ports, airports andloading facilities.

To overcome these challenges, a submersible pump (submerged just belowthe waterline), frequently powered by hydraulic fluid systems, is usedto supply high-volume pressurized water uphill into the intake ofanother “on-shore” centrifugal pump. These remote pumps allow a ferryingrange limited only by the length of their hydraulic lines, pumpingperformance capability and system efficiency. Lay-flat hose lines orrolled high pressure tubing are used as replacements for standard metalpiping, further increasing the flexibility of such systems. Althoughthese systems exist, they require significant manpower and heavyequipment for deployment due to their weight and cumbersome nature andencounter problems with corrosion in saline environments.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The Composite Constructed Floating Submersible Water Supply Pump is asolution to traditional bulky mobile rapid deployment high-volume watersystems. Reduced weight pump bodies are made of either cast aluminum orwelded aluminum plate, making only a marginal weight improvement overtraditional cast iron body pumps while also sacrificing materialstrength and durability. Additionally, aluminum body pumps suffer fromgalvanic corrosion (without the use of sacrificial anodes) and pittingfrom highly silted shallow water. Moreover, coating technologies, likehard-coat anodization and polyester powdercoating, are stripped from thealuminum surface during pumping operations because of the abrasivequalities of such heavily silted waters. Constructing a casing frommultiple fiber (glass, carbon, aramid or any combination of highstrength-to-weight ratio spooled filament material) reinforced thermosetor thermoplastic layers, an extremely strong, durable and lightweightpump casing is achieved. Additionally, the pump impeller is constructedfrom an isotropic fiber reinforced composite, providing additionalweight savings and strength characteristics equal or better thantraditional impeller materials such as bronze. Furthermore, thecomposite body and impeller are completely inert in saline environments,such as seawater or brine storage ponds, eliminating corrosion failure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

A more complete understanding of the present embodiment and itsrespective advantages can be found by referring to the followingdescriptions and their accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 illustrates an isometric view of the complete pump assembly.

FIG. 2 illustrates a front view of the complete pump assembly.

FIG. 3 illustrates a side view of the complete pump assembly.

FIG. 4 illustrates an exploded view of the complete pump assembly whereitem 1 is the pump assembly lifting bar (facilitates overhead movementand deployment), item 2 is the integrated pontoon (to provide flotationto the complete pump assembly), item 3 is the pump motor (hydraulic orelectric), item 4 is the motor mounting plate, item 5 is the compositeimpeller, item 6 is the composite body pump casing, item 7 is the pumpdischarge connection, item 8 is the pump suction screen and item 9 isthe pump assembly external chassis (to facilitate deployment).

FIG. 5 illustrates an isometric view of the composite impeller.

FIG. 6 illustrates an isometric view of the composite body pump casing.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example deployment situation of a floatingsubmersible pump system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The composite constructed floating submersible water supply pump isspecifically designed to be ultra-lightweight (comparable to othertraditional metal technologies) and highly corrosion resistant to salineenvironments. By providing such a lightweight system, rapid systemdeployment for high-volume water transfer needs (such as in municipalde-flooding, FIG. 7) is made possible without the use of heavyequipment, instead substituted by manual manpower.

The composite floating submersible pump is manufactured using wellunderstood commercial manufacturing concepts and intuitive toolingsystems. The integral pontoon (FIG. 4, item 2) is made throughrotational molding using economical thermoplastic polymers. The samepontoon can also be constructed from typical fiberglass hand layupmethods. The motor (FIG. 4, item 3) is a standard commercially availablehydraulic or electric motor capable of running submerged in water. Themotor external body is sealed, and the surface is treated with achemically resistant coating to prevent corrosion. The motor mount plate(FIG. 4, item 4) is made from a solid polymer or fiber-reinforcedcomposite plate, which can be cut from any number of commerciallyavailable processes such as water jet cutting or 3-axis milling. Thecomposite impeller is machined directly from a commercially availableisotropic structural graphite composite monolithic block, withsignificant weight reduction and equal or better strength thantraditional impeller metals such as bronze. The composite body pumpcasing (FIG. 4, item 6) is made through resin (thermoset orthermoplastic polymer) transfer molding using long strand high-strengthto weight ratio reinforcing fibers such as aramid, glass or carbonfiber. Both the impeller and body are chemically inert within salineenvironments, ensuring zero corrosion.

The pump suction inlet screen (FIG. 4, item 8) is made from acommercially available expanded or perforated corrosion-resistant metalsuch as stainless steel. The pump assembly external chassis (FIG. 4,item 9) and lifting bar (FIG. 4, item 1) are manufactured from standardmandrel metal bending and welding processes.

It is not readily apparent such a lightweight pump assembly could bedeveloped. Current technology uses a combination of floating bargepumping modules (due to the weight of cast iron pump bodies), craneattached submerged commercial centrifugal pumps or cast (optionallywelded) aluminum body pumps fitted with a flotation device. The aluminumbody pumps allow for deployment with heavy machinery (i.e. fork lifts,jib cranes, etc.) or manually with adequate manpower. Unfortunately,even the aluminum body pumps are cumbersome to deploy, wasting valuabletime resources during rapid deployment requirements. Additionally,aluminum, even with coating technologies, will eventually suffer fromgalvanic corrosion (if a sacrificial anode is not included in thedesign) and pitting that nucleates from abrasive silts in shallow water.Moreover, current complex structural wall composites use externallyfiber reinforced core materials such as aluminum honeycomb. This methodis satisfactory for externally loaded structures but is not strengthsuitable for highly pressurized containers with internally movingcomponents (such as a centrifugal pump). Large scale mass resin infusedshort strand fiber reinforced bodies are also not suitable as theysacrifice weight savings with thick resin walls to obtain sufficientstrength. In contrast, the composite constructed floating submersiblewater supply pump casing uses specialized mold architecture combinedwith long strand woven fiber reinforcements and resin injection moldingto drastically reduce the weight of such a system.

The composite submersible pump is used specifically to transfer water(fresh or saline) or similar liquids in remote sourcing situations. Atypical remote sourcing situation would be a flooded subway as depictedin FIG. 7. Stormwater has flooded the main subway tunnel (FIG. 7, item17) where the water level (FIG. 7, item 13) is far below ground level(FIG. 7, item 15) preventing normal centrifugal pump siphoning. Afloating submersible pump (FIG. 7, item 16) is powered by an on-shorepower module (FIG. 7, item 11) that is remotely connected to thefloating submersible pump using a pressurized hydraulic fluid power line(FIG. 7, item 14) or electric line. A water supply hose (FIG. 7, item12) is connected to the discharge connection of the submersible pump andthen to any nearby downstream devices or an open discharge plateau (FIG.7, item 10). The on-shore power module may be powered by a commercialengine mated to a hydraulic power unit or an electric generator.

The embodiment of this invention is drastically reduce the weight ofsuch systems and provide significant corrosion resistance to enablerapid deployment of remote water transfer systems. By re-tooling wovenreinforcement composite technology to manufacture a true structuralcomposite pump casing and impeller, a lightweight and saline environmentcorrosion-proof system is achieved. This further enables personnel todeploy such systems without the need of heavy equipment, simplifyingon-site setup and reducing deployment time.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property orprivilege is claimed are defined as follows:
 1. A portable centrifugalpump comprising: an integrated flotation device; and a pump casingmanufactured using a composite material comprised of high-strength toweight ratio fiber reinforcements and a thermoset or thermoplastic resinmatrix; and a pump impeller manufactured using a composite materialcomprised of high-strength to weight ratio fiber reinforcements and athermoset or thermoplastic resin matrix; wherein said pump impeller isinstalled within said pump casing and said flotation device is attachedto said pump casing.
 2. A portable centrifugal pump according to claim 1wherein such pump includes integrated frame carrying handles.
 3. Aportable centrifugal pump according to claims 1 and 2 wherein such pumpcan be reasonably carried by a single person.